Congratulations to Prince William and Kate Middleton, as they are now *officially* known as the Prince and Princess of Wales! Although the titles were announced by King Charles III back in September 2022, one day after the death of the late Queen Elizabeth II, they had not been made official until now!

An official announcement about Prince William‘s titles was made in The Gazette, the country’s official public record, reading: “In accordance with the direction of HIS MAJESTY THE KING Letters Patent have passed the Great Seal of the Realm, dated the 13th February 2023 for creating His Royal Highness Prince William Arthur Philip Louis, Duke of Cornwall Rothesay and Cambridge, Earl of Carrick and Strathearn, Baron of Renfrew, Baron Carrickfergus, K.G., K.T., Lord of the Isles and Prince and Great Steward of Scotland, PRINCE OF WALES and EARL OF CHESTER.”

According to the Royal Collection Trust, the Letters of Patent are “an open document from the Sovereign, which can be used to express the Sovereign’s will, for example to confer an office or create a new peerage.”

King Charles First Revealed New Royal Family Titles Following Official Period Of Mourning

At the end of September 2022, King Charles officially revealed the new titles of some of the members of the royal family when the official period of mourning for the late Queen Elizabeth II, who died "peacefully" at Balmoral Castle on September 8th aged 96, was over.

The official royal family social media accounts on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook acknowledged the family's new roles and titles by changing their handles and pictures to reflect the updates. The new pictures of the official royal family accounts, for example, have been changed to a picture of King Charles and Camilla, Queen Consort, staring into the distance. The picture was taken at the Balmoral War Memorial in Scotland in May 2020, on the 75th anniversary of VE Day.

The official royal family Twitter page (@RoyalFamily) acknowledged the end of the official mourning period and the new era. Sharing a picture of the late Queen Elizabeth II, the Twitter account wrote: "The period of Royal Mourning following the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth has now ended."

"This account will continue to reflect the work of The King, The Queen Consort and other members of The Royal Family, as well as remembering the life and work of Queen Elizabeth," it added.

Prince William And Kate Middleton Become The New Prince And Princess of Wales

The new King and Queen Consort weren’t the only members of the royal family to receive social media updates, as Prince William and Kate Middleton's social media accounts changed too! The @DukeandDuchessofCambridge Instagram account, for example, changed to the @PrinceandPrincessofWales to reflect their new Prince and Princess of Wales titles.

They will officially be known as both the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and Cambridge, and the Prince and Princess of Wales. Their profile picture is the same one which was used on their Duke and Duchess of Cambridge accounts, and shows them laughing together on the cliffs of Ireland. Their official Instagram still updates fans about the events they attend and the causes they support, among other things, and recently shared a picture of the Prince and Princess of Wales attending the BAFTAs.

However, keen observers will notice that a few members of the royal family still didn’t have their new titles confirmed, and that is of course, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, i.e., the three-year-old son and the one-year-old daughter of Prince Harry, 38, and Meghan Markle, 41, as the official Royal Family website still lists them as Master Archie Mountbatten-Windsor and Miss Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor, with no mention of their new Prince and Princess titles, or whether they have received HRH status.

Duke And Duchess Of Sussex Snubbed

But that's not the only snub for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, as they have seemingly been demoted – at least as far as the royal family website is concerned! Their position on the 'Members of the Royal Family' section on the official website has moved from below Prince Edward, his wife Sophie, Countess of Wessex, and Princess Anne, where they were moved following Megxit, to the very bottom of the page.

They now sit below some of the 'minor' royals, including the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, the Duke of Kent, and Princess Alexandra, and just above Prince Harry's disgraced uncle Prince Andrew, who is the last royal to feature on the page. Wow!

King Charles Gives Kate Middleton Another Royal Title

King Charles gave Kate Middleton, 41, yet another royal title at the end of last year, as he also named his daughter-in-law the new honorary Colonel of the Irish Guards, a title that previously belonged to her husband Prince William. The title was given to Prince William in 2011 by the late Queen Elizabeth II just two months before the royal wedding, which is why he wore the traditional red Irish Guards officer uniform for the ceremony in Westminster Abbey.

What Is The Colonel Of The Irish Guards Title?

Now that she has this title, the Princess of Wales‘ duty will see her and her husband traveling to Aldershot in Hampshire, England to take part in its annual parade alongside the Irish Guard, where they will also salute the regiment, pass out shamrock boutonniéres, meet with the regiment’s mascot (an Irish wolfhound named Seamus) and celebrate with a Guinness toast.

King Charles Gives His Family Even More New Titles And Makes More Announcements

The new Prince of Wales, 40, was also given the Colonel of the Welsh Guards title which was previously held by his father, King Charles, for the last 47 years. And Queen Consort Camilla also received another title at the end of last year, as she was appointed the new Colonel of the Grenadier Guards – a title previously held by Prince Andrew which he has since been stripped of due to the sexual assault allegations against him by Virginia Giuffre and controversial friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

As part of the same announcement, King Charles also revealed the date for the Trooping the Color parade, which will mark the first public celebration of the new monarch’s birthday. Although King Charles' birthday is actually on November 14th, the date of the parade has been set to June 17th, 2023 to take advantage of the weather during the British summer. The late Queen Elizabeth II's official birthday was April 21st, but the Trooping the Color parade was planned in June for the same weather-related reason, so it's not surprising to see the new monarch stick with this tradition. This tradition of the monarch having two birthdays to coincide with the Trooping the Color parade dates as far back as the 1700's, if you can believe it, with King George II being the first monarch to do so.

What About Prince Harry And Meghan Markle's Titles?

Not all of the members of the royal family received new titles after the late Queen Elizabeth II passed, as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's titles still have a giant metaphorical question mark next to them. Many critics believe that they shouldn’t be given any new titles and should even have their existing Duke and Duchess of Sussex titles taken away following their controversial Netflix Harry & Meghan docuseries that came out last year, and Prince Harry's bombshell memoir Spare which hit shelves on January 10th this year, while others don't think that that's the best option, as it could thrust them even more into the spotlight, which is reportedly *not* something the royal family would want.